Chapter 2. Hardworking Mom

"I saw you being hugged and groped by Damian a few days ago. I didn't see you trying to stop him." Andrew hissed right in Blair's face.

Blair looked fed up. "Damian is just a friend to me. We don't have any relationship. Sometimes he does joke out loud, but that's what he does to almost all of his friends. And I've only had sex with you this whole time, only with you since that surprise night!" Blair shouted desperately.

Andrew paused and looked at Blair in surprise. "Surprise night? Tch! You didn't even come to me that night! I did it with another girl!"

"W-what do you mean, Andrew?"

"Yes, we did do it the following nights at your house when your mother worked nights. But, on a surprise night two months ago, you didn't show up, and I took my frustration out on another girl!"

Blair felt weak for a moment. "On another girl?" Blair repeated Andrew's words. She just realized that her lover was not really loyal to her.

"Then what do you expect from me?" continued Andrew. "I'm not even sure the baby is mine. You want me to quit school and take responsibility for a baby that isn't mine? You want me to marry you at this age? You're so funny, Blair! You better abort the womb; I don't care if he/she's my child or not. And actually, I also want to tell you, I want us to break up."

Andrew took a step away from Blair.

The girl was still holding the pregnancy test kit in her hand. Blair's hands were tightly clenched, and her body was shaking violently. She didn't want to be toyed with and treated like trash thrown away when she was no longer needed.

Blair ran after Andrew and grabbed Andrew's hand until the boy turned to face Blair.

"What do you want, Bitch? Do you want to embarrass me in front of everyone? You want to scream to everyone that I got you pregnant? Hey, who would believe you? Everyone knows you were born from a prostitute's womb, so you will grow up to be a prostitute too."

Before Blair could think, her hand suddenly moved to slap Andrew's cheek.

Andrew looked down with half his face red.

Blair was surprised by her own courage and strength. Andrew looked angry and rubbed his hot cheeks.

"Listen to me, you bastard!" Blair said. "You could have run away from responsibility for my pregnancy. But, never call my mother a prostitute. You don't know anything about it. She is a great

woman. She worked hard from day to night just to educate and raise me! She is an honorable woman."

Andrew pouted. He folded his arms across his chest as he teased Blair.

"You say your mother worked hard day and night to educate you? Honorable women will produce respectable women, not prostitutes like you. I'm becoming more and more convinced that you two are prostitutes. You guys go around sleeping with everyone for a few dollars." Andrew then turned and left Blair without another word.

Blair could no longer stand on her two feet. She fell to her knees in the hot and deserted parking lot. Tears fell from her eyes which felt very hot and heavy.

"How could I be this stupid? I think he loves me because that's what he always says. Why am I so stupid? I never even listened to my mother telling me to stay away from Andrew."

Blair and her mother moved to a small town when Blair was ten years old. They moved after their parents divorced. Blair's father ran off with another woman. Her mother could not return to her parents. Because Blair's mother married without her blessing and got pregnant even before they married at a young age.

"Throughout her life, my mother has always regretted her actions in choosing to run away from home. She followed her feelings of love for a man who became my father. Their marriage did not last long. Because that guy is an asshole. My mother always advised me not to fall in love easily and trust men."

Blair sobbed while squeezing her stomach, which now had a baby. "In a few months, it will get bigger, and I won't be the same person again."

Blair roared alone.

"I think Andrew is a good young man. I was even willing to steal my time and lie to my mother about our relationship. Now, I understand why parents are always right. Because their words come from long life experiences. How stupid am I? But this has all happened."

Blair stood up, wiping her tears. "But Mom must understand my feelings and current situation. There is no one but Mom. I'll go home and tell her everything. Even though Andrew is no longer my hope, at least I still have Mom."

***

Blair was sitting at the kitchen table with a smug face and tousled hair. During the day, she locked herself in her room, waiting for her mom to come home from work.

The mom put a shopping bag with the supermarket logo in their city. The woman smiled with a tired face and began to take out the contents of the shopping bags one by one.

"I am grateful that I can get a job at the supermarket. Every weekend they always let us bring near expired food for free. Yes, sometimes food that is close to expiration is not always bad. There are still a few more days before it's all gone to waste."

Blair just slumped languidly in the chair in front of her mom. She didn't respond to any of her mother's stories.

"What's the matter with you, honey? You look so tired. Are you sick? Did you have a problem today at school? If it's about payment, I will keep it before it's due. Have a little more patience."

Blair shook her head weakly. Then, she called out to her mom in a sobbing voice.

The mom was surprised because she had never found Blair so sad. Blair is always happy and cheerful, no matter what their circumstances. The mom panicked and immediately sat down next to Blair.

Mother reached out and put her arm around Blair's shoulder. She removed the hair from Blair's forehead and kissed the girl's head affectionately.

"Are you in trouble today? Tell me all. I will definitely listen to it. We'll find a way out together, okay?"

Slowly Blair lifted her head and looked at her mom. The woman looked older than her because she was too tired to work. Even today, the fine lines are increasingly visible on her facial skin. Blair couldn't possibly tell her mother what was wrong when she had just got home from work.

However, Mother's words of comfort gave Blair some hope. Blair believes her mother can understand and understand her current situation no matter how difficult it is.

"Mom," Blair whispered again, holding back a sob.

"If you don't say it, how will I know what your problem is? Then, we will never find a solution." The woman spoke very patiently, as usual.

Blair looked at her mother with some hope that she would accept her. "I am pregnant!" Blair muttered as she pressed her hands into her lap to keep from shaking.

The mother was silent for a moment with an expressionless face, then shook her head slowly. "Do not, Dear. You're not pregnant," the mother said as if to herself.

Blair, with trembling hands, pulled a pregnancy test kit out of her sweater pocket. She showed the mother. "Yes, I'm pregnant, Mom. I just found it today."

In disbelief, the mother grabbed the pregnancy test kit and checked the two red lines. Then the mother turned a cold face towards Blair. The warmth she had displayed in Blair's 17 years now seemed to vanish just because of the two red stripes.

"Mom?"